Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 17:54:51 EDT
From: C
Subject: Ecology bytes
BIODIVERSITY
TEAM OF SCIENTISTS TO PREPARE A ROLODEX OF LIFE ON EARTH. The New
York Times, July 27, 1999, pD2.
A world-wide project is underway that will attempt to catalog
all of the diverse life on earth. "It may seem surprising," says
James Edwards of the National Science Foundation, but no single,
centralized record of all of the recorded scientific names of all
known species exists.
The project, led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, will produce the Global Biodiversity Information
Facility, which will be an electronic information network recording
data about all of the world's organisms.
"The information is scattered in dozens of centers, in
museums, universities, in journals, drawers and card files," says
Tom Lovejoy, chief biodiversity adviser to the World Bank. "The
idea is to put all this together and make it available to
everybody." The network will organize a number of different
databases that will be maintained by different countries around the
world. In many cases, historical information will be digitized for
the first time.
Eventually, the developers hope that the database can be
linked to other systems with information on other environmental
aspects, such as soil, climate, and human population. "Say you want
to know the effect of a pesticide on some species," says Stefan
Michalowski, one of the project's planners. "Then you should be
able to see what climates the species live in, what else is part
of that ecosystem and how all that will be affected by the
chemicals." This type of data linkage "will be the most worthwhile,
but horrendously difficult," he said.
ECOLOGICALLY SOUND COMMUNITIES
A journalist files reports on environmentally sound
communities that thrive on the edge of harsh landscapes and tough
neighborhoods. Earthwatch Radio (1:59)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/07/072699/072699livi_4563.asp
IMPACT OF UNDERWATER NOISE STUDIED
How sensitive are the ears of marine life? A recent report
released by the Office of Naval Research Marine Mammal Science
Program says there is evidence that sounds of high intensity may
affect the ears of marine life temporarily or permanently. Loss of
hearing could prevent ocean organisms from detecting predators or
prey and it could disturb mating and parenting processes.
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/07/072799/oceanoise_4577.asp563.asp
LOOPHOLE DREDGES UP OLD WETLANDS THREAT. The Washington Post, July
27, 1999, pA17. Full text available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/27/065l-072799-idx.htmlp
EPA officials are concerned that a legal loophole was opened
last year by a federal appeals court that has led to the
destruction of around 30,000 acres of wetlands.
At issue is a 1993 rule known as the "Tulloch rule." The
Tulloch rule attempted to close a loophole in 1986 Army Corps of
Engineers regulations covering the discharge of dredged materials
into waterways, including wetlands. The 1986 regulations did not
require a discharge permit for "incidental soil movement occurring
during normal dredging operations." Developers used this loophole
to get around the requirement to get a permit under section 404 of
the Clean Water Act.
The 1986 loophole was closed by the Tulloch rule which
expanded the definition of discharge to include "any redeposit of
dredged material." However, last year a federal appeals court ruled
that the Corps had overstepped its bounds with the Tulloch rule,
reopening the loophole.
"It's a virtual blank check for them in trying to get around
the wetlands laws," said J. Charles Fox, assistant administrator
for water at EPA. "We are losing just as many wetlands in this
country through this loophole as we are through the permitting
program." Under the permitting program, developers are at least
required to make up for the destroyed wetland acreage by
constructing new wetlands.
The most damage is occurring in the Southeastern states. North
Carolina alone has lost more than 20,000 acres of wetlands in the
past year.
"This is serious," said EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner.
"The amount of damage, the number of acres of wetlands that are
essentially being destroyed is a real concern."
THE BUSINESS OF FISH MANAGEMENT
Sport fishing in the Great Lakes area, a $4 billion industry,
is in danger of suffering from an environmental "domino effect" due
to the introduction of exotic species. Great Lakes Radio Consortium
(4:58)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/07/072699/072699glrc1_4562.asp
THE MAGNETIC EYE OF NEWTS
Washington Post, Page A9; July 26, 1999
Weird but true: Recently, scientists have found that several
kinds of animals carry a sort of on-board compass system that
allows them to orient themselves in Earth's magnetic field. For
certain birds, insects and amphibians, that mechanism seems to be
located in the eye and involves some peculiar interaction between
magnetic field and light-detecting tissues: When a researcher
changes the wavelength of light that the animals receive, it also
alters their sense of magnetic direction.
But in at least one critter, compass orientation takes place
outside the eye, biologists report in the July 22 issue of Nature.
Newts have "extraocular" spots on their heads that respond to light
via the brain's pineal gland or possibly the hypothalamus.
A team from Indiana University placed two kinds of transparent
"caps"--in effect, tiny sunglass lenses one-quarter of an inch
wide--over these photoreceptors. Half were clear; half allowed only
long-wavelength light to pass through. In tests, newts with
long-wavelength caps oriented themselves at a 90-degree angle to
those with clear caps. "Thus," the researchers conclude,
"extraocular photoreceptors are involved in the newt's light-
dependent magnetic compass."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/26/064l-072699-idx.htmlsp
USDA SETS TRAP FOR INVASIVE ASIAN BEETLE
The U.S. Agriculture Department is testing a new chemical
enticement to help combat the Pesky Asian longhorned beetle, an
invasive species that has destroyed hardwood trees in more than a
half-dozen U.S. states since it was discovered a year ago in
Chicago. "Our goal is to eradicate this pest," said Agriculture
Secretary Dan Glickman, addressing the first meeting of the
President's Council on Invasive Species.
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/07/072699/asianbeetle_4559.asphtmlsp
WETLANDS: CORNERSTONE OF FISHERY SURVIVAL
More than 50 percent of all endangered species call wetlands
their home, and approximately 75 percent of all fisheries depend
on wetlands for their existence. There are many different ways of
determining what makes a wetland. EarthNews (1:31)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/07/072699/072699more_4564.aspp
When Lewis and Clark trekked across North America, the fish
were so plentiful that "you could cross a stream on their backs."
Since then, 50 percent of continental U.S. wetlands have
disappeared. This has had adverse effects on fish populations.
EarthNews (1:29)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/07/072799/072799wetl_4599.aspp
CONTROLLING FIRE ANTS
"Yuma, Arizona [Across the USA]." USA Today, 19 July 99, 15A.
Officials say efforts to eradicate the state's largest
infestation of fire ants are working. The aggressive South
American ants, which were introduced in Alabama in the 1930s, were
found at Cibola High School.
CLONING OF EXTINCT HUIA BIRD APPROVED
It may sound like science fiction, but scientists and
ethicists meeting in New Zealand earlier this month have determined
that efforts to revive the extinct Huia bird through cloning should
begin immediately. Professor of molecular biology Diana Hill, who
has also investigated the cloning of
another extinct bird, the Moa, called the project "flagship
research" and "exciting leading-edge science of international
significance."
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/07/072099/huiaclone_4446.asp599.aspp
DRC-1339
"Bismarck, North Dakota [Across the USA]." USA Today, 20 July 99,
10A. Agriculture officials are continuing a project begun last year
to test DRC-1339, a strong blackbird poison, in sunflower fields
to help reduce the damage caused to crops by the birds. The poison
is supposed to kill the birds within three days of ingestion.
GROTESQUELY LONG BILLS
"Anchorage, Alaska [Across the USA]." USA Today, 20 July 99, 10A.
Last winter, black-capped chickadees visiting local bird
feeders were found to have "grotesquely long bills." Scientists
have not been able to determine what is causing the beak
deformities, but did find that healthy birds as well as the
deformed birds had concentrations of DDE, a by- product of DDT.
IMPORTED LOGS, IMPORTED PESTS
Not only does the U.S. import a lot of food, it also imports
a lot of timber. As much as one third of the total American demand
for timber is supplied from foreign sources. However, with the
increased importation of timber comes an increased risk of exotic
pest infestation. High Plains News Service(4:53)
http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/07/072399/072299hpns1_4528.asp
RED TIDE OFF COAST OF CHINA
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 From: Chan Yow Cheong
mailto:chanyowcheong@pacific.net.sg ProMED-mail Regional Moderator
for Asia Source: China Daily, 20 Jul 1999
http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/cd_cate1.html99/07/072399/072299hpns1_4528.asp
The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) has detected large
areas of red tide along both the northern and southern Chinese
coasts. Red tide measuring 680 square kilometres had been detected
by 6 pm on Sunday in sea waters to the south of Dalian, in
Northeast China's Liaoning Province.
Dou Yueming, an official with the administration's North China
Sea Bureau, said it occurred not far from the Bohai Sea area where
6300 square kilometres of red tide had just receded on Saturday.
Bureau officials were keeping a close watch on the red tide, and
surveillance teams were sent to the affected waters, according to
the official.
Marine scientists were yet to determine whether the disastrous
red tide algae would spread further. The bureau advised local
fishermen not to refresh water in their fish pools, to avoid the
red tide. The scientists also advised local fishermen to move fish
and other aquatic products to safe waters, as the poisonous algae
of the red tide pose a grave threat to marine life.
The red tide in waters along the Guangdong coast was first
spotted in Raoping on 10 Jul 1999 and has rapidly spread to cover
400 square kilometres since last Wednesday, Qian Honglin,
vice-director of the administration's South China Sea Bureau
stationed in Guangzhou, said yesterday.
The red tide showed little sign of further expansion, however,
flowing sea water was pushing it southwestward to Nan'ao Island off
the coast.
Red tide occurred in the same area between November 1997 and
January 1998, causing some 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million) in
economic losses.
BAUCUS SEEKS TO EXPAND TAX BREAKS FOR VOLUNTARY CONSERVATION
EFFORTS. Daily Environment Report, July 23, 1999, pA-8.
A bill was introduced in the Senate (S. 1392) on July 19 by
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) which would provide tax incentives for
voluntary conservation of protected species. The Species
Conservation Tax Act of 1999 would build upon existing tax
incentives for conservation and add a new estate tax incentive for
land managed to protect endangered or threatened species.
"The more we can use tax incentives to encourage the conservation of
threatened and endangered species, the more likely we are to reduce
the regulatory burdens associated with those species," the Senator
explained.
The bill would allow for an income tax exclusion for cost
share payments under the federal Partners for Wildlife Program.
Baucus says that since this program began, in 1987, 18,000
landowners have restored more than 330,000 acres as part of the
program. It would also enhance significantly the deduction for
donations of interests in real property that conserve threatened
or endangered species. Another provision of the bill would be an
estate tax exclusion for the entire value of property subject to
a conservation agreement up to $10 million.
Of particular interest is the elimination of the mileage
limitation for estate tax exclusion for land subject to a
conservation easement. Under current regulations, the exclusion is
limited to land within 10 miles of an urban national forest or
within 25 miles of a metropolitan area, wilderness, or national
park. The mileage limitation "excludes about one-third of the
continental United States," according to Baucus. "In many cases,
the excluded lands are just as pristine and sensitive as lands
surrounding wilderness areas or national parks."
LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES GO THE DISTANCE
Like their cousin the tortoise, sea turtles may take their
time, but they are remarkably persistent, according to new evidence
from an Earthwatch sponsored researcher. A flipper tag recovered
in Baja, Mexico, from a loggerhead sea turtle tagged in Japan,
confirms that endangered loggerheads shuttle nearly 7,500 miles
(12,000) kilometers each way back and forth across the Pacific
Ocean between nesting beaches in Japan and feeding
grounds off the coast of Mexico.
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/1999/07/071999/distance_4419.asp_4528.asp
THE TOTAL YELLOWSTONE WOLF REPORT
In 1997, Wyoming District Court Judge William Downes ruled
that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park was
a violation of the Endangered Species Act. An appeal hearing is set
for Thursday. If this controversial court case has piqued your
interest about how the wolves are faring, you can get the details
on this featured site.
http://www.enn.com/features/1999/07/072799/072799sow_4611.asp419.asp_4528.asp
"MOUNTIES ALWAYS GET THEIR MAN; HERE'S HELP FOR THOSE ELUSIVE
TREES." Wall Street Journal, 19 July 99, B1.
Acting on the knowledge that every tree, like every person,
has a unique cell structure, a federal ministry called the Natural
Resources of Canada, is developing tests to identify the DNA in the
stump of a tree to the DNA in a log that has been stolen. Tree
theft is a nagging problem in Canada due, in part, to the vast wood
industry there. Law enforcement officials, who say Western red
cedar is the prime target, hope to begin using these tests in court
before the year is over.
The EU Tropical Forestry Sourcebook (EC/ODI) [.pdf]
http://www.oneworld.org/odi/tropics/Sourcebook/index.html.asp419.asp_4528.asp
The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the European
Commission (EC) provide the EU Tropical Forestry Sourcebook,
intended for people "in developing countries who deal with European
donors; those in non-EU donor countries seeking insights into the
breadth of the EU's investment in tropical forests; and those
living in the EU who have an interest in the forestry activities
of the EC and individual member states." The book's 22 chapters
(.pdf) cover the history of European involvement in tropical
forestry and provide an overview of "the ways in which Europe
offers support to tropical forests through aid and research."
Current programs are examined for each member state, with a
detailed chapter dedicated to each member state. For those
interested in learning more about the EU economics behind tropical
forest management and research, this book will serve as an
interesting gateway.**From The Scout Report for Science &
Engineering, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/di/tropics/Sourcebook/index.html.asp419.asp_4528.asp
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 18:04:08 EDT
From: C
Subject: GL: CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL GIVE HEAT CLUES
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676
The Times
Britain
Creatures great and small give heat clues
June 23 1999
by NICK NUTTALL, ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT
LEVELS of ice on Windermere, the arrival of the first swallows
of spring and the fortunes of a tiny marine insect that hibernates
in the Atlantic are to be used by the Government to detect signs
of global warming. Michael Meacher, the Environment Minister, will
today announce 34 indicators which scientists believe will act as
early warning of climate change in the British Isles. It is a
choice that underscores a renaissance in the lost art of the
Victorian naturalists and their obsession with phenology - the
science of recording natural events through the year.
The rise and fall in the abundance of two common species of
butterflies, the large white and common blue, has been included.
Studies at eight sites across Britain indicate that temperatures
in May play a key role in determining how many are seen each year.
Other natural barometers of climate change include the dates when
oak leaves emerge and salmon begin running in the spring.
Glen George, of the Institute of Freshwater Ecology in
Windermere, who was one of the group that chose the indicators,
said the levels of ice in bays around Windermere would be a
valuable guide.
He said the institute had records dating back to 1935 which
clearly showed a sharp decrease in ice formation. "We are now
seeing successive winters with virtually no ice at all," Dr George
said. The trend had begun in the 1980s and roughly matched the rise
in global average temperatures which have reached record levels in
the past decade or so.
Swallows arriving from Africa may be fickle in their timing.
But a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
said yesterday that global warming appeared to be having an impact
on even this natural cycle. Figures gathered by the Institute of
Terrestrial Ecology at Monks Wood in Huntingdon, which are to be
disclosed today, show that the majority of birds are on average
arriving one week earlier, about the third week of April, than 20
years ago.
An analysis of oak leaf opening times, based on 30 years of
monitoring at a forest in Ashstead, near Chertsey, Surrey, also
underscores the trend. Mark Broadmeadow, of the Forestry
Commission's Alice Holt station in Surrey, who has been studying
the records, said: "There is a considerable change of between one
and two weeks."
The indicators, chosen by researchers headed by Professor
Melvin Cannel of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in Edinburgh,
will include the number of days in the year when the Thames Barrier
is closed to protect London from flooding. This will be used as a
yardstick of rising sea levels and the frequency of storm surges.
A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency, which manages the
barrier, said yesterday that during the 1980s it was closed less
than once a year. But since the 1990s the rate of closure has
fluctuated with the barrier raised six times in 1990; nine times
in 1993; five times in 1995; four times in 1996 and three times in
1998.
The oceans are believed to be crucial in understanding the
likely impact of global warming due to power stations, traffic and
other carbon emissions. The team has chosen a copepod - a tiny,
insect-like crustacean which is found in the North Sea - as another
indicator.
Chris Reid, of the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean
Science in Plymouth, said yesterday that the copepod species
Calanus phinmarchicus was proving an excellent predicator of these
climate trends. Studies show that the tiny marine organism, which
is an important food for fish, winters in deep waters around Norway
and in the eastern Atlantic before being taken by currents into the
North Sea.
Dr Reid said the foundation had found that in recent years the
levels of the copepod arriving here had slumped by as much as 70
per cent.
WEBSITES:
o http://www.nmw.ac.uk/ecn/CCI/cci.htmages/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676 The Environmental Change
Network of research centres
o http://www.npm.ac.uk/sahfos/safhos.htmls/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676 The Sir Alister Hardy
Foundation for Ocean Science
o http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ihhfos/safhos.htmls/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676 The Institute of Hydrology
o http://www.ife.ac.uk/ihhfos/safhos.htmls/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676 Institute of Freshwater Ecology
o http://www.cru.uea.ac.ukfos/safhos.htmls/tim/99/06/23/timnwsnws01007.html?199676 Climatic Research Unit, University
of East Anglia